Creeper



Nov. 11, 1947. J. B. BARTON 2,430,662

CREEPER Filed Feb. 7, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor Patented Nov. 11, 1947 OREEPER J eB arton Grand-Rrairie, Iggy Application February 7, 1946; s i 63534-1;

' 4 Claims. 1.

This invention relates to creepers and has more specific reference to certain new and usefuldmprovements such as, it is believed, serve to enhance theoverall utility of such conveyances and at the same time, retain customary provisions and conveniences.

Briefly, and somewhat broadly comprehended, novelty. is predicated upon a, portable Wheeled frame structure which lends itself adaptable to maneuverability around and beneath automobiles and the like, the same embodying a sectional platformand one of the sections being constructed to function as. a tiltable back-rest,

wherebyto permit. the user to assume and retain acomfortable working. position and to thus facilitate making predetermined adjustments and repairs on. automobiles, automobile parts and the'like.

More specifically, novelty is predicated upon athinged ly. mounteduand liftable and lowerable combinationbacksrest and head rest having associatedctherewith, and with a main creeper or truck. frame, reliable-andconveniently disposed manually. operable meansv for elevating and lowering .said rests.

Incarrying. out the. specific principles of the invention, I have provided simple and expedient mechanical devices carefully. chosen and structurally coordinated-to make for convenience and compactness of functioning, and at the same time, to promote ease of .operationby the user of the creeper.

The, phases of the. invention with which I am especially. andmore particularly concerned have to .do .withthechinged backrest, having a headrest; arms being;hingedlyconnected.to th frame of.=tl1e= backrestand said arms having rack teeth and said teeth-being cooperable with latchlike detents. ona. manuallyv controllable rocker shaft.

Otherobjects, features and advantages of the invention will. becomev more readily apparent fromlthes following description and the accompanying illustrative drawings,

In thedrawings wherein like, numerals are employedto.designate-like parts throughout the views:

Figure. l isiasideielevational viewof a complete operable, creeper constructedin accordance with th principles .of-the instant invention.

Figure 2 is atop---plan view--withportions broken awayand shown in-section tebring-out the construction and": arrangement of certainof the; details.

Figure.3-=isan end view that-isan end -view- 0f Figure 1,- observing same ina direction fromlett to right.-

Figure 4 is an eniargedfragmentaryview; in sectionand-alsodnelevation showing.- therack means-at the -lower end 0f:one-Of said .armsandthe.. manner in which the rocker-shaft detent or latch coacts therewith.

Figure 5 .is a view basedon Figure-@andshow mg the detent' rotated and moved a to .aposition ingsreference. numerals; it: will b'etseen that the main frame. structure of ;the. creeper is denoted;

asa unit. by the .numeral "1.. It comprises, as.

seen .in Figures.- 1; 2-:and- 6,: a substantially. oval shaped frame. H. On th righthand end of said" frame, I rprovidetasheetmetal .or equivalent plate i2ewhich serves ..as.the. stationary. section of the, structure. This; plate I25 occupies. ap-.. proximately one-half; slightly. less, of the. top. area/pf :the. overall structure. ture. is; supported by. appropriately arranged; suitablymounted casters; l 3:.

Attentionat-this stage is directed. to -=.a hori=.. lltallockershaft. l 4 arran ed at the leftv hand-.- ri mf the. main flame-l I, the-same b.eing.jour-.. naled; fort oscillation in appropriate. depending: bearings, I 5.;as; shown ,inFigures; 1. and; 6;v This rocker shaft ;is-,pr0vided' adjacent opposite ends. with latch-devices; Thesedevices are actually in. e. f rm. ofrlu s. thesame; being denoted by. the.-. numerals I 6 (see-Figures A, S and-6 and said lugs eing movable in;.circillarrpaths:around the Gen-1.. tra l axis of said rocker shaftyM; Actually the. lug. positioned betweena pain-ofzdisd-like elements. or, flanges I11 and; I8; of duplicaterconstruction- (seeFigure 7'). Thereiis airockeriarmr. lssin one.

; 1d; of: the .rocker shaft and" a push-pull iIOd. or."

to free the: raclsteeth for 1 purposessof making: an

The frame struc-.

wire 26 is connected with said arm and said rod or wire operates through supporting elements 2i and 22 on the under frontal end portion of the main frame I l (see Figure 6 in particular). The push-pull rod is provided with a finger hook 23 and is surrounded by a coiled spring 24 located between the elements 2| and 22. It follows that by catching hold of the hook 23 and reciprocating or working the rod 20 back and forth, it oscillates the rocker shaft I4 by way of the rocker arm [9. In turn, th latch-lugs [6 are rocked from retaining to releasing positions, as seen in Figures 4 and 5 respectively.

At this point, I desire to introduce the combination back-rest and head-rest means. This structure, as a unit, is denoted by the numeral 25 and comprises a substantially U-shaped frame 26 with a sheet metal cover or plate 21'. The free ends of the arms of the U-frame ar hingedly at tached, as at 28, to the intermediate side members of the frame I I (see Figures 1, 2 and 6). The

plate 21 forms the back-rest proper and the pad 29 forms a suitable head-rest. The back-rest is movable from the horizontal down and out-ofthe-way position seen in Figure 6 to the elevated or tilted position seen in Figure 1. This is also adjustable to intermediat inclined positions as required by the user. To accomplish this, I provide a pair of stay links or arms. Each arm is denoted by the numeral 30, the same being hinged to a suitable attaching bracket 31, as shown in the drawings. The lower or free end portion of the arm is provided with rack teeth 32. Also, there is a guard of general L-shaped form, and indicated at 33. This is attached to the toothed end of the arm 30 and embraces the rocker shaft. It constitutes the ways and means of operatively connecting the rack equipped end of the arm to the rocker shaft. Moreover, the guard works between the adjacent or coacting disc flanges l1 and i8 as brought out in Figures 4, 5 and 6. It is sumciently large to allow the engaging and disengaging steps to be accomplished.

To be more specific, the guard equipped rack ends of the arms 30 coact with the respective latches l6. As each arrangement is the same, I have shown a single adaptation of this structural assembly in Figures 4, 5 and 7. From these fi ures, it is obvious that said arms serve as pivoted stays and that by arranging the rocker shaft I4 in the position seen in Figure 4, the latch l6 engages the rack teeth and this affords a temporary locking connection between the rocker shaft and arms. However, by actuating the push-pull rod in the direction of the arrow B (see Figure 4) the rocker arm travels in the direction of the arrow 0 and the rocker shaft is rotated to move the disclike flanges rearwardly, that is in the direction of the arrow D. This, obviously, swings the latch it, which also has the function of a disengaging cam, around to the position seen in Figur 5. While in this position, the rack teeth are lifted to a position where they can slide back and forth over said latch in order to make an adjustment. For example, with the rack teeth disengaged as shown in Figure 5, the arm 30 can be shifted downwardly in the direction of the arrow E to thus lower the tilt of the back-rest. In the drawings, the back-rest is shown in its uppermost tilted position, but it may occupy intermediate positions by proper adjustment of the latch and rack teeth assemblies with relation to each other; or the back-rest can be swung completely down to the level position seen in Figure 6. It follows that the back-rest coacts with the f ame t u ture forming a sort of a, platform thus providing the aforementioned sectional platform with one of the sections forming a back-rest and being tiltable up and down as guided and regulated by the adjusting means detailed in Figures 4, 5 and 6. It is the latter structure which seems to constitute the essence of the invention in the instant case.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the construction, operation and advantages of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a creeper of the class described, a wheel supported frame, a rocker shaft thereon, lugs laterally mounted on and carried by said rocker shaft at opposite ends of said rocker shaft, confining parallel disc-flanges on said rocker shaft coacting with the respective lugs and forming guide and assembling members, a back-rest hinged on said frame structure, arms hingedly connected to said back-rest and provided with rack teeth and guards co-acting with the rack teeth, said guarded rack teeth being movable between said disc-flanges and being engageable with said lugs.

2. An automobile mechanics creeper of the class described comprising a wheel supported frame structure including a hinged section forming a back-rest, a rocker shaft mounted for operation on said frame structure including a rocker arm situated within the surrounding confines of said frame structure, a remote control hand operated push-pull rod slidably mounted on the frame structure and connected at one end to said rockeractuated arm for actuating same, and adjustment means between the rocker shaft and back-rest including pivoted stay-links carried by the backrest, latch-lugs on the rocker shaft, and rack teeth on the free ends of the stay-links engageable with said lugs, and fixedly mounted guards on said free ends slidably looped around said rocker shaft and spaced from said rack teeth in the manner shown and described.

3. An automobile mechanics creeper of the class described comprising a horizontally disposed mobile frame structure including a centrally hinged section forming a head and back-rest, an oscillatory horizontally and transversely disposed rocker shaft mounted in hearings on said frame directly beneath said back-rest, said rocker shaft being provided with an actuating rocker arm and further provided with a rigid radially projecting latch-lug, a folding stay-link having one end hingedly connected with the back-rest, the opposite lower end thereof terminating in an elongated assembling guard-loop, said guard-loop slidably embracing said rocker shaft and being provided along one longitudinal edge portion with rack teeth, said guard-loop and rack teeth cooperating with said lug and said lug being locatable, by way of oscillation of the rocker shaft, for selective coaction with said rack teeth, and a remote-controlled hand-operated push-pull rod slidably mounted on said frame and pivotally and operatively connected with said rocker arm.

5 4. The structure specified in claim 3, together with a pair of spaced parallel confining discs rig- 6 t UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Neal Apr. 20, 1926 Koch July 27, 1926 Mance Aug. 18, 1936 Goldenberg Sept. 15, 1936 OgbOrn et a1 May 25, 1875 Lariew Mar. 10, 1885 Bush, Jr May 6, 1884 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Austria July 10, 1902 

